Although many word documents contain only one section, if you want to change headers or footers, page size or orientation,, margins, line number, page borders, or the number of newspaper-like columns in different parts of a document, you have to use sections.
The most common circumstance perhaps is when you want to change headers or footers in the middle of a document. In that case, you have to add a new section; there's no alternative solution.
You also might need to add a section if you have a wide table in the middle of a long report. Most of your pages will be printed in portrait orientation, but you'll need to add a section break before and after the table so that you can print it in landscape orientation. You could print the table separately and collate it by hand, but using section breaks resolves all your layout problems for you and why not do it the easy way?
Word recognizes four different types of section breaks:
Continuous - Defines a new section, but dopes not force a page break. Continuous section breaks are used almost exclusively for changing the number of newspaper-like columns in a document, or resetting line numbering (which you usually see in legal documents).
Next Page - The most common type of section break, a Next Page section break, not only defines a new section, it forces Word to start the section on a new page.
Odd Page - Like the Next Page break, except Word can add one additional blank page to force the new section to begin on an odd-numbered page.
Even Page - Like the Odd Page break, but Word stars on an even-numbered page.
Section breaks are visible in all views when you click the Show/Hide button to make special formatting characters (non-printing characters) visible. 
Just as paragraph formatting is stored in the paragraph mark at the end of a paragraph, Word stores section formatting in the section break at the end of the section. Formatting for the final section in a document is stored in the last paragraph mark in the document. If a document has only one section, the document's final paragraph mark holds the section formatting for the entire document.
Inserting and Deleting Section Breaks
To insert a new section break into a document, follow the steps below:
- If the document does not yet include one, I strongly recommend that you put a dummy manual section break at the end of your document. To do so, click once in front of the final paragraph mark in the document. Press Enter a couple of times. Then choose Insert, Break. In the Break dialog box, choose Continuous and click OK.
Figure 1
- If all the headers and footers in the document will be the same, you'll find it much easier to establish them now.
- Carefully determine what section breaks you will need in your document, what type they should be and where they will occur. In particular, if you plan to change the number of newspaper-like columns for a short run in the middle of the document, you'll want Continuous section breaks both before and after the change.
- Starting at the beginning of the document, create the section breaks, one at a time, by using the Break dialog box shown in Figure 1.
The dummy section break at the end of the document can help you salvage important formatting information, because you can copy or move the section break, although copying or moving the final paragraph mark won't have any effect on section formatting.
After establishing all sections, carefully go back into each section and apply the section formatting you require. If you must delete a section break, select the break and press Delete. The newly merged section takes on the settings of the section break at the end. Immediately examine the document for odd formatting changes. If you find any unwelcome formatting, press Ctrl + Z or click the Undo button to restore the section break. 
Copying Formatting Between Sections
Section breaks store the settings for the section. You can select, delete, copy, or move these settings at will. The simplest way to copy section formatting from one section to another is by copying the section break. If you want to copy the section formatting from section number 5 to section number 1, follow these steps:
Select the section break at the end of section 5 and press Ctrl + C to copy it to the Clipboard.
- Click just in front of the section break at the end of section 1.
- Press Ctrl + V to paste the section break you copied previously.
- Press Delete to delete the old section break at the end of section 1.
If you created an extra dummy section break at the end of the document, all the document's original section formatting is stored in that section break. To restore a specific section to the document's original formatting, copy that dummy section break to the end of that specific section.
Carol Bratt is the Office Applications Editor at Daves Computer Tips. She has authored several informative Microsoft Office books and writes the monthly Word Bytes Newsletter with more tips and tricks in each issue. Visit Carol's website for more great Microsoft Office tips and tricks! Click here to see her latest books! You can read more about Carol here.